GeekSugar

The Solar Eclipse Moves Fast in Time-Lapse

Kelly Schwarze — Mon, 21 May 2012 11:31:11 PDT

Miss Sunday's solar eclipse? If you don't live in a part of the country where you could see the moon pass in front of the sun, leave it to the Internet to help you view the space phenomenon.

Photographer Cory Poole shot 700 pictures of the event through his telescope and turned those images into a beautiful view of the eclipse, no sunglasses or pinhole projector required. Watch the moon's journey in the video below.

Weekend DIY: Astronaut Ice Cream

Kelly Schwarze — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 06:53:20 PST

Along with looking into the mystifying world of science, picking up a freeze-dried astronaut ice cream sandwich is one of our favorite parts of a visit to a space or science museum.

Engineer Ben Krasnow also loved those strange pieces of sweets as a kid, so much that he naturally decided to re-create the food himself in his home workshop. Now Ben's methodology, as seen in the video below, is not intended as a quick afternoon DIY. He shows us how to build our own freeze-dryer with tools easily purchased on the Internet to then transform an ordinary ice cream sandwich into its NASA-approved counterpart. Geek sugar, indeed!

The video itself is a fun lesson in the scientific properties you may have forgotten since high school, as is the rest of his YouTube channel Fun With Applied Science.

This Weekend: Get Schooled on Science, Thanks to YouTube

Kristy Korcz — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 12:03:38 PST

YouTube isn't just for watching funny videos about cats, it's also a great place to get educated. No, really! Take SciShow, for example. This channel is dedicated to teaching the masses interesting things about science, computers, and all things geeky, in a highly entertaining way, thanks mostly in part to the adorably nerdy host, Hank.

Get schooled on things like solar energy, mind reading, and Tatooine, both in quick "dose" formats or longer, more involved episodes. Obviously an overachiever, host Hank also gives you the easy-to-digest lowdown on biology on a secondary channel. Classic geek move, right there.

What are some of your favorite educational YouTube channels? Share them with us (so we can get smarter together) in the comments!

5 Facts on Google's New Privacy Policy

Kelly Schwarze — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:35:35 PST

In a policy revision announced this week, Google will be instituting one blanket privacy policy across their many web products with the reasoning that they're building a streamlined user experience. The data from your activity and habits on one Google-owned site will be stored in their servers and shared across all their sites. The legal speak details for Google's new Terms of Service are available on their website, but we've broken down what you need to know and how the changes affect your digital life below.

When logged into any Google product account, the personal information provided will be shared among all of Google's products. Searches and text provided in Google Search may pop back up in YouTube as recommended videos or Gmail as targeted ads.
Those ads across Google services will be more finely targeted than ever, thanks to your activity across the company's network of products, after all the servers see your most visited websites on Chrome and your recurring destinations on Maps. If personalized ads aren't for you, the function can be turned off with the Ads Preference Manager.
Google says your data privacy is secure. They will not sell your personal information or share it without permission, unless with a valid court order.
Google social search elements are still happening. When applicable, Google+ personal results will continue to appear in a search query, with the thinking that a friend's recommendation or recent article share on the social network ties closer to what you're scouring the Internet for.
The Google products policy change goes into effect March 1.

Tell us your feelings on the Internet giant's changes in the comments and watch Google's video explanation of the new policy after the break.

YouTube Gurus Take Their Business Offline

Jaime Richards — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 03:05:29 PST

At one point, YouTube beauty videos may have seemed to be just a blip on the radar. But as a group of beauty gurus is proving, there's more to it than creating cute looks on camera. In fact, some are getting into the retail game, launching products as an extenuation of their Internet personas.

Fashion and beauty YouTube stars Elle and Blair Fowler have come out with a line of bedazzled and colorfully decorated line of cell phone and iPad cases for Cellairis, the Elle and Blair Winter collection (starting at $20).
YouTube giant and Lancôme video makeup artist Michelle Phan recently launched her Glamour Eyes Kit ($60) exclusively through Sephora. The limited-edition set includes a five-color palette dubbed Chic by Chelle, an Artliner in Noir, and a Hypnôse Drama Mascara in Excessive Black.
Samantha Chapman of the popular YouTube channel Pixiwoo is now selling a line of color-coded brushes. Made with taklon bristles, Samantha's Real Techniques brushes are shaped to give the wearer a pixel-perfect finish.

Source, Source, and Source

Simon Pegg Plays Physics Guinea Pig

Kelly Schwarze — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 06:30:58 PST

In a recent episode of the BBC's A Night With the Stars, physicist Brian Cox (similar in reputation to Neil deGrasse Tyson, except British) enlisted the help of actor and geek we love, Simon Pegg, to explain the physics of why atoms are so vast yet empty.

Brian leads Simon and physicist Jim Al-Khalili in a giggly demonstration of standing wave principles in relation to the characteristics of atoms. We certainly could use these sorts of explanations in regards to the TARDIS in future Doctor Who episodes, don't you think?

A Future Feminist? Watch This Lil One's Rant Against Toys' Gender Stereotypes

Kate Stahl — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 14:06:52 PST

Now that the Christmas buying madness is over - and your little lady's room is probably stocked full of new princess toys and your son has scored some new trucks - watch this future feminist's rant against the gender stereotyping of toys. The adorable little Riley is not happy that toy manufacturers keep forcing pink and princesses on little girls, who she says like other colors and superheroes, too. Her diatribe puts her right up with the 5-year-old lil girl who told us she had to have a job before she got married - one of the cutest kid videos of 2011. Kind of makes you think, right - and wonder what her parents did to make her so articulate and thoughtful at such a young age? Riley, Betty Friedan, and Gloria Steinem would be proud!

Our Favorite 5 of YouTube's Top 2011 Videos

Kelly Schwarze — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 04:21:53 PST

It's hard to go a couple days (or hours) without a friend, parent, or co-worker directing you to the "most amazing video EVER" on YouTube. Following the world's video sharing trends closely, YouTube unveiled the Top 10 YouTube videos of 2011. We'll admit we've watched videos one through 10 multiple times, but have our own list of top five favorites. While "Friday" was catchy, it didn't make our cut, which you can check out below.

Nyan Cat - Coffee break? Try a Nyan Cat break whenever a moment of zen is needed throughout the day. How many of the 56 million views made it through the whole video of the pop-tart cat, the meme that launched a thousand parodies, crafts, and costumes?
Talking Twin Babies - We may not know what they're saying, but these twin babies are in the midst of a heated discussion that'll likely go on the rest of their lives. Over 56 million views attempted to debunk their baby talk.
Cat Mom Hugs Baby Kitten - Imagine a world where everyone watched this video of a mother cat pulling her restless sleeping kitten into a hug daily. It would be rather sweet and cuddly; 39 million viewers agree.

Two more YouTube faves after the break.

See YouTube's Most Popular Beauty Videos of 2011

Jaime Richards — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 12:52:46 PST

Each year brings a new slew of beauty videos to the web. And on YouTube, it was a year dominated by music video looks, a certain sultry celebrity, and even a Disney princess. This year's most-viewed beauty video was the above tutorial, based on LMFAO's "Sexy and I Know It," which pulled a whopping 12 million views. To see the rest of the top five, just keep reading.

YouTube Gets a Fresh New Look

Kristy Korcz — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 01:31:22 PST

Many have often lamented about the confusing and unfocused look of the YouTube homepage, but now users will be greeted with a brand new homepage that focuses more on what you like, and less on what you don't. The entire page has gotten a sleek makeover, much in the way of Google+, which makes videos easier to find.

The left-hand side of the homepage will now be your hub for your subscriptions, connections, and where you'll find the trending and popular videos of the day, along with the various categories to browse through (like music, entertainment, etc.). The center of the page will feature your subscription feeds and recommended videos.

Channels have also gotten an upgrade, allowing YouTubers to customize what is featured on their channel pages with templates, showing off playlists, featured videos, latest videos, and more. Plus, you can now see a channel's feeds, which includes anything the creator has uploaded, liked, favorited, or commented on, and perform keyword searches on specific channels.

Get a better look at what the new homepage holds in the demo video from Google after the jump.